Isolation In 'Lars And The Real Girl'

Spring Always Comes After Winter Individuals with a creative mind have the ability to create and design their own future. In Lars and the Real Girl through the childlike and kind-hearted protagonist Lars, Craig Gillespie illustrates the role in which self-perception plays in order for individuals to reconcile the conflict between illusion and reality. Initially, Lars Lindstrom avoids interaction with others at all costs; however, through the help of the newcomer Bianca and his supportive family and friends, Lars learns that his reality is not ideal and that being isolated is not what he truly wants. Though Lars lives in deep isolation through the beginning of the film, he fails to realize that his behaviour is out of the ordinary. Throughout the exposition of the film, Lars’s character is developed to show how he behaves around others and how he refuses to interact or socialize with those in his town. The opening sequence of the film depicts Lars in his most solitary and lonely state. He is shown looking outside of the window in his home in the garage, with the bars symbolizing how he is imprisoned in his own isolation. Lars is holding the blanket his mother had knit for him in front of his mouth, and this displays how the blanket is his main source of security. While the opening sequence reveals Lars in a deeply isolated environment, Lars fails to realize that he is doing this to himself. He perceives himself as being completely normal and that he is perfectly fine, despite living in solitude.
The bridge symbolizes the obstacles Lars has to go through in order for him to be able to fully join with the community and to finally be able to socialize and interact with others. Lars then attends church, a place where a large community gather to be together. The sermon in the church is especially significant because this is where